I found the first "projection" to be wayyyy too optimistic. Although, I suppose it's possible that, the various cycles of civilizations that fall and give rise to new civilizations, it is possible that it would take an entire 50k years for us to advance to an interstellar species. So I guess it's not as optimistic as I thought. But that all assumes we don't nuke ourselves to oblivion before then so...wayyyy too optimistic.

Ambivalence:I found the first "projection" to be wayyyy too optimistic. Although, I suppose it's possible that, the various cycles of civilizations that fall and give rise to new civilizations, it is possible that it would take an entire 50k years for us to advance to an interstellar species. So I guess it's not as optimistic as I thought. But that all assumes we don't nuke ourselves to oblivion before then so...wayyyy too optimistic.

Indeed. I have little to no faith in our species.

/One can always hope for the best that the endless pursuit for the illusion of power and wealth doesn't consume us all.

This has got to be the worst slideshow I've ever seen. You can't even skip to the next slide after reading and the pace seems intended for people who have disabilities or read very slowly. I gave up after the first 3 slides.

moviemarketing:This has got to be the worst slideshow I've ever seen. You can't even skip to the next slide after reading and the pace seems intended for people who have disabilities or read very slowly. I gave up after the first 3 slides.

Spoiler: They project 10^23 years into the future and the Cubbies still haven't won the World Series.

Manfred J. Hattan:moviemarketing: This has got to be the worst slideshow I've ever seen. You can't even skip to the next slide after reading and the pace seems intended for people who have disabilities or read very slowly. I gave up after the first 3 slides.

Spoiler: They project 10^23 years into the future and the Cubbies still haven't won the World Series.

That first projection assumes it's actually possible to get to other solar systems. As much of a scifi geek as I am, all the hard facts point to us being trapped on this rock until Sol goes nova. We need literal divine intervention to get human beings to another habitable planet, assuming one even exists.

HotWingAgenda:That first projection assumes it's actually possible to get to other solar systems. As much of a scifi geek as I am, all the hard facts point to us being trapped on this rock until Sol goes nova. We need literal divine intervention to get human beings to another habitable planet, assuming one even exists.

This comment is completely ignorant. To say that we don't currently have the technology as fine, to even say we don't currently understand the direction our technology needs to hear even makes sense. But frankly there are technically possibilities we most likely haven't even dreamed up yet. So to say it's impossible is rather ridiculous and short sighted.

When Andromeda is looming over the horizon as its date with the Milky Way approaches, it will probably be just about as bright as the Milky Way looks right about now. In other words, only exciting in a dark area.

INeedAName:HotWingAgenda: That first projection assumes it's actually possible to get to other solar systems. As much of a scifi geek as I am, all the hard facts point to us being trapped on this rock until Sol goes nova. We need literal divine intervention to get human beings to another habitable planet, assuming one even exists.

This comment is completely ignorant. To say that we don't currently have the technology as fine, to even say we don't currently understand the direction our technology needs to hear even makes sense. But frankly there are technically possibilities we most likely haven't even dreamed up yet. So to say it's impossible is rather ridiculous and short sighted.

I can only assume you're one of the congresspersons overseeing NASA.

The fact is, the speed of light is one law we can't break. I would love to believe we can somehow create a wormhole to another star, or shunt a spaceship into another universe and then pop it back out at another point in our universe... but none of those things are actually physically possible. The best we could hope for would be a colony ship that floats in the general direction of the nearest solar system for a couple thousand years, but by the time it got there everything onboard would be dead and decayed, because there's no way to replenish raw materials to sustain life in transit between planets. And it would be full of unrepaired asteroid holes.

That unfortunately written show Stargate Universe was dead-on about a lot of the technical problems, and they basically had to use magic to solve them for the sake of the plot.

Mars with biodomes, however, is totally attainable, and the only thing holding us back is politics.

Until genetic selection and manipulation takes hold. Stupid people will simply be bred out. Of course the great thing about intelligence is that it is all relative. What could be considered a genius today could be considered stupid in a couple of centuries.

HotWingAgenda:That first projection assumes it's actually possible to get to other solar systems. As much of a scifi geek as I am, all the hard facts point to us being trapped on this rock until Sol goes nova. We need literal divine intervention to get human beings to another habitable planet, assuming one even exists.

Fusion-powered "generation ships", man. Imagine how bizarre human society would be after a couple centuries living in space.

HotWingAgenda:The best we could hope for would be a colony ship that floats in the general direction of the nearest solar system for a couple thousand years, but by the time it got there everything onboard would be dead and decayed, because there's no way to replenish raw materials to sustain life in transit between planets.

I hate to break it to you, but if you look in the general direction of "down", you'll find that you're on something that's floating around, has lasted for more than a couple of thousand years, and not only has tons of raw materials, the vast majority are self-replenishing.In other words, the Earth is a good guide for a colony ship. It doesn't have to be anything this big, but you also aren't restricted to something tiny. I'd say we should start with something like this:At 34 km long and 12 km in diameter, you've got tons of space to hollow out and build your biomes in.

Possible with even today's technology? Absolutely, although prohibitively expensive at the moment. Capable of a long slow drift to a nearby star system without everyone on board starving? Totally.

And it would be full of unrepaired asteroid holes

Space is really, really big, and a ship is really, really tiny. Even if you do see something coming, odds are it isn't going to hit. And if it is, you'll have enough warning to deflect it or change your direction slightly - remember, we're talking about a spacecraft, not just an orbiting rock.And finally, even if it hits, All the important parts of your ship are buried in the center under a kilometer or two of rock.

Basically, everything moves around a lot, the stars explode, shiat gets sucked into black holes, the black holes get sucked together into bigger black holes, and then everything explodes out again in a new big bang.

Ok now that I'm done describing the porno I'm watching, what is everybody talking about in this thread?

HotWingAgenda:The fact is, the speed of light is one law we can't break blah blah blah

There are many things we don't understand about the universe we live in, and it is probably centuries too early to say what is and is not possible. It may very well turn out that interstellar travel simply cannot be accomplished, but all that we can say with certainty is that we haven't found a way yet. Your whole post is a fantastic example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect; you know just enough to think you know what you're talking about, but not enough to be right about anything.

Theaetetus:HotWingAgenda: The best we could hope for would be a colony ship that floats in the general direction of the nearest solar system for a couple thousand years, but by the time it got there everything onboard would be dead and decayed, because there's no way to replenish raw materials to sustain life in transit between planets.

I hate to break it to you, but if you look in the general direction of "down", you'll find that you're on something that's floating around, has lasted for more than a couple of thousand years, and not only has tons of raw materials, the vast majority are self-replenishing.In other words, the Earth is a good guide for a colony ship. It doesn't have to be anything this big, but you also aren't restricted to something tiny. I'd say we should start with something like this:[upload.wikimedia.org image 300x225]At 34 km long and 12 km in diameter, you've got tons of space to hollow out and build your biomes in.

Possible with even today's technology? Absolutely, although prohibitively expensive at the moment. Capable of a long slow drift to a nearby star system without everyone on board starving? Totally.

And it would be full of unrepaired asteroid holes

Space is really, really big, and a ship is really, really tiny. Even if you do see something coming, odds are it isn't going to hit. And if it is, you'll have enough warning to deflect it or change your direction slightly - remember, we're talking about a spacecraft, not just an orbiting rock.And finally, even if it hits, All the important parts of your ship are buried in the center under a kilometer or two of rock.

I've been thinking about how humans, assuming we'll ever leave this rock, will adapt to a new environment of space. All I am fairly certain of, is assuming we get off Earth before doom arrives, our descendants will no longer be human.

We'll probably have divergent species for each new environment we find. Including 3 foot tall silvery skinned folk who have evolved to survive with limited resources and high radiation doses of scooting around through space. Come to think of it, those Roswell aliens might simply have been time travelling post-humans.

babtras:I've been thinking about how humans, assuming we'll ever leave this rock, will adapt to a new environment of space. All I am fairly certain of, is assuming we get off Earth before doom arrives, our descendants will no longer be human.

We'll probably have divergent species for each new environment we find. Including 3 foot tall silvery skinned folk who have evolved to survive with limited resources and high radiation doses of scooting around through space. Come to think of it, those Roswell aliens might simply have been time travelling post-humans.

I know that idea has been used here and there, but I'm surprised it doesn't get more traction in SciFi circles. It has appealing symmetry.